ISSN 1829-4618

OSIP MANDELSTAM. THE POET AND THE TIME. HIS LIFE AND ARMENIA

By: Anushavan Zakaryan, PhD in Philology, Editor-in-chief of the “Historical and Philological Journal”
patmhandes@rambler.ru

Osip Mandelstam (1891–1938) – a prominent Russian poet, art theorist, translator – takes a special place in the history of Soviet literature.
In the 1920–1930s, Mandelstam, being non-party man and not constantly being member of any literary association, tasted all the misfortunes that befell the intellectual class of his generation and a great many ordinary Soviet citizens; he faced repressions, he was arrested twice, was sent into exile where he died.
Mandelstam’s name is closely related to Armenia and Armenian culture. His visit to Armenia (from May to early October, 1930) was life-changing for him. Under the indelible impressions of the biblical country, he wrote a collection of poems “Armenia” (1931) and an essay “Journey to Armenia” (1933). These pieces of art are among the best works in the Russian literature dedicated to Armenia.
There is rich literature on Mandelstam’s life and art: memoirs of contempo¬raries, a great number of monographs, articles and publications. Nevertheless, there are almost no studies about Mandelstam in the Armenian language: the present article partially fills this gap.

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